My thoughts:
I know many people disagree with the premise of the Biggest Loser as it gives false hope and the wrong impression of training and trainers. Granted the situation that the BL contestants are put in isn’t anything the normal everyday obese person will be in during the normal course of life. How many people have the opportunity to focus completely on their health and fitness for a long stretches of time, have not only a personal trainer but a gym dedicated to just themselves, have EMT staff and also a doctor available on site if things happen to go wrong. These contestants are in the gym for 4 hours each and every day and then they may have challenges that are very physical to boot. Then after all the workouts are done for the day they get nutritional counseling but best yet the kitchen is stocked to the nines. I believe that the contestants are responsible for their own cooking but even that is shared with the other contestants in the house. I don’t have weight to lose and yet would love to spend a week in the house under those conditions, add a massage at the end of the day and it sounds like something I would really enjoy.
- Last night during my time watching the show they did show something I hadn’t noticed in the past, emergency personal on site at all times. Yes they are pushing these people beyond what a normal trainer would do during a session but most intelligent people understand that this is a reality show and not something an obese person should do on their own. During these challenges there are emergency people available for assistance. In the gym, again emergency people are on the job immediately, I think it was good that they showed the contestants being tended to. I also think they need a disclaimer letting the general public know they should not attempt this level extreme fitness work at home as it is unrealistic.
- I didn’t noticed as much screaming and yelling from Jillian as I have in the past. During the 1 mile race Jillian explained that she uses that as a tool to motivate when nothing else is working. She is trying to illicit anger and is trying to get the person to reach deeper within themselves to push hard. She does mention that she has an arsenal of tools she uses to motivate as each person is different in what motivates them.
- I did noticed the first show detailed each contestants sob story, it was a lot to deal with but then again most people are emotional eaters, these are the events that push their obesity. Jillian has a desire to make people face and talk about what is going on inside the persons head, most real world trainers only work on what is on the surface and not what drives the machine. I think that many people have issues with how she trains but then again this is TV, the show is produced for ratings and they sell the show with her as a bad ass. (If the trainers are all soft and cuddly the ratings would suck and we wouldn’t be having this conversation.) That carries into the show’s other avenues for revenue as well when they sell her “bad ass” attitude workout programs online or as Wii workouts. Jillian’s workouts sell, why, well because deep down people believe they need their ass kicked to motivate them. At the end of the day everyone loves a villain right.. Jillian = villain = sales..
- I have formed attachments already and was really disappointed that the big guy with dreads, Corey from Alaska, didn’t make the show. I am also drawn to Brendan because he is so open about his emotions and isn’t afraid to show them. Kudos to Frado, the 43 year old 370 lb man who beat all the others in the mile race, I thought the lighter younger contestants had the advantage, obviously I was wrong.
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| Corey was eliminated to early (photo via NBC) |
So that is my thinking so far. It was glaringly obvious, even before the weigh in, that the lighter girls would all fall below the yellow line and the heavier men would all be above.. well except for Patrick but Frado saved him from his situation, not THAT situation as there wasn’t an ab or a Jersey accent around. The big numbers are common the first week on the ranch the body starts to lose all the retained water.. I watched the whole show on both episodes, mostly anyhow as I ff during the actual races/challenges, but in the future most likely will not watch all the drama.
